Smart email task reminders

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods herein assist users by identifying actionable tasks in an email and providing reminders and other tracking mechanisms for those tasks. For example, a method can include extracting a portion of the email and assigning a number to each word of the extracted portion of the email according to a library. The method can further include determining, based on the assigned numbers, whether the extracted portion of the email includes at least one actionable portion. In response to determining that the extracted portion of the email includes at least one actionable portion, at least one actionable portion can be presented to the user on a GUI associated with the user&#39;s device.

BACKGROUND

Despite the increasing options for digital communication, such asinstant messaging and social media, email communication remains theleading form of business communication. Worldwide, over 200 billionemails are sent on an average day. Many of these emails include requestsfor the email recipient to carry out a particular task. The process ofidentifying actionable requests and tracking them to completion is stilla manual task that takes time and is prone to errors, lowering therecipient's overall efficiency

When a user receives an email, they must first decide whether to readthe email, and after reading the entire email, determine whether anyportion of the email requires a response or other action. The user canthen either provide the response or action immediately or plan toprovide it at a later time. In the latter case, the user must eitherrely on their memory to remember to complete the task, or manually trackthe task by, for example, writing it down, inputting it into a calendar,or flagging the email. But even then, the user will need to revisittheir mechanism for manually tracking the task in order to remindthemselves of what remains to be done, by searching through emails orlocating to-do lists, for example. Additionally, the user must manuallycease tracking tasks as they are completed. The result of these systemsis that users are slower to complete some tasks and can easily forget tocomplete other tasks.

For at least these reasons, a need exists for systems and methods thatassist an email recipient in identifying actionable requests in emailsas they are received and tracking those requests efficiently. Morespecifically, a need exists for systems and methods that can presentactionable portions of emails on a graphical user interface (“GUI”) fora user in a manner that increases the user's efficiency and provides theuser with easily shortcuts for tracking, organizing, and managingactionable requests that are still pending.

SUMMARY

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory onlyand are not restrictive of the examples, as claimed.

Systems and methods herein assist users by identifying actionable tasksin an email and providing reminders and other tracking mechanisms forthose tasks. An example method can include extracting a portion of areceived email, such as the body of an email. The method can includeassigning a number to each word of the extracted portion of the emailbased on a library correlating words to particular numbers. The methodcan include determining, based on the assigned numbers, whether theextracted portion of the email includes at least one actionable portion.An actionable portion of the email, also referred to as an “actionitem,” “actionable item,” or “actionable task” can be anything thatrequests or implies the need for the email recipient to take some sortof action. Examples include requests such as “please provide thefollowing information,” “please let me know ASAP,” “can you take a lookat this attachment,” and “let me know what you think.”

The method can also include, in response to determining that theextracted portion of the email includes at least one actionable item,presenting the actionable item on a GUI of a device associated with theemail recipient. For example, the email application can present theactionable item on the display of a user device. The actionable item canbe displayed in a number of ways that assist the user in managingactionable items, associating actionable items with other events, andmotivating the user to complete outstanding actionable items.

The method can include highlighting the actionable item within the emailtext such that the user can readily identify the actionable item anddistinguish it from the rest of the email. Highlighting can include anymechanism for visually drawing attention to the actionable item, such asunderlining, circling, coloring, or obscuring the non-actionableportions of the email.

The method can also include displaying the actionable item, or items,from an email in a hero card associated with the email. The hero cardcan be a card, window, page, box, or other item displaying informationand presented on the GUI. The hero card can be presented along with theassociated email, such as directly above or below the email, and caninclude any actionable items extracted from the email. In one example,the email client can reserve a space for display of hero cards. The herocard can include a checklist of detected actionable items, includingresponse status. In one example, the checklist is limited to detectedactionable items associated with a particular sender. The sender can beselected by the user or determined by the email client based on arecipient of an email being drafted by the user or based on a sender ofan email being viewed by the user. In one example, each outstandingactionable item can be individually represented in its own hero cards.The user can cycle through the multiple hero cards in an example.

The method can further include displaying one or more actionable itemsin a meeting invitation, calendar entry, or a reminder for either. Forexample, if the user has a meeting scheduled with Adam, the method caninclude displaying a meeting invitation and inserting an actionable itemretrieved from an email sent by Adam to the user, such as a request to“talk about the expense account at the meeting.” The user can thereforeget a reminder on the substance of the meeting or other outstandingrequests from any meeting participants.

The method can include presenting a graphical representation ofactionable items completed by the user within a period of time relativeto the overall number of actionable items presented to the user withinthat same timeframe. For example, the method can include displaying agraphic representing the percentage of actionable items received in thepast 7 days that have been completed. In another example, the method caninclude a “burndown chart” projecting expected progress on resolvingactionable items and tracking the user's actual progress, comparing thetwo in a graphical format. These various charts and representations canbe presented in a hero card in one example.

In another example, a non-transitory, computer-readable medium isprovided. The computer-readable medium includes instructions that, whenexecuted by a processor of a computing device, cause the processor toperform stages for identifying actionable tasks in a received email.This can include, for example, extracting a portion of the email andassigning a number to each word of the extracted portion of the email.The stages can further include determining, based on the assignednumbers, whether the extracted portion of the email includes at leastone actionable portion, and in response to determining that theextracted portion of the email includes at least one actionable portion,presenting the at least one actionable portion on a GUI.

In yet another example, a system is provided for identifying actionabletasks in a received email. The system can include a user devicecomprising a processor, a display, and an email application such asBOXER. The processor of the user device can perform stages including,for example, extracting a portion of the email and assigning a number toeach word of the extracted portion of the email. The stages performed bythe processor can further include determining, based on the assignednumbers, whether the extracted portion of the email includes at leastone actionable portion, and in response to determining that theextracted portion of the email includes at least one actionable portion,presenting the at least one actionable portion on a GUI.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exemplary flowchart of an example method for identifyingactionable tasks in a received email.

FIG. 2A is an exemplary illustration of an example GUI of an emailapplication on a user device.

FIG. 2B is an exemplary illustration of an example GUI of an emailapplication on a user device.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary illustration of an example GUI of an emailapplication on a user device.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary illustration of an example GUI of an emailapplication on a user device.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary illustration of an example GUI of an emailapplication on a user device.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary flowchart of an example method for identifyingactionable tasks in a received email.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EXAMPLES

Reference will now be made in detail to the present examples, includingexamples illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible,the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to referto the same or like parts.

Systems and methods herein assist users by identifying actionable tasksin an email and providing reminders and other tracking mechanisms forthose tasks. For example, a method can include extracting a portion ofthe email and assigning a number to each word of the extracted portionof the email according to a library. The method can further includedetermining, based on the assigned numbers, whether the extractedportion of the email includes at least one actionable portion. Inresponse to determining that the extracted portion of the email includesat least one actionable portion, at least one actionable portion can bepresented to the user on a GUI associated with the user's device.

FIG. 1 provides a flowchart of an example method for identifyingactionable tasks in a received email. At stage 110, an email is receivedat a user device. The user device can be any computing device, such as asmartphone, laptop, tablet, personal computer, or workstation. A userdevice can include a non-transitory, computer-readable medium containinginstructions that are executed by a processor. Example non-transitory,computer-readable mediums include RAM and ROM, disks, and other memoryand storage that is accessible by a USB port, a floppy drive, CD-ROM orDVD-ROM drive, and a flash drive, among others.

The user device can execute one or more email applications. Theseapplications can be standard email applications installed as part of anoperating system, such as APPLE's iOS MAIL application or MICROSOFTOUTLOOK. The applications can also be aftermarket email solutions, suchas VMWARE's BOXER. The email applications can be standalone, unmanagedapplications, or they can be managed by a management server that enrollsthe user device. The management server can provide rules, limits, andother configurations for any managed email application.

The stages of FIG. 1 can be carried out regardless of whether the userutilizes a managed or unmanaged email application, or whether the useris accessing an enterprise email account or a personal email account.

At stage 115 of the method, the email body is extracted by the emailapplication. The email body can be considered any media included in theemail, including text, pictures, and signatures. The email body canexclude the subject line and the “To,” “From,” “CC,” and “BCC” fields.Extracting the email body can include, for example, identifying the bodyof the email, extracting all elements within the body, and copying thoseelements over to another file or format. This stage can also includeperforming optical character recognition if necessary.

At stage 120, sentences are extracted from the extracted email body.This stage can include parsing the email body to distinguish sentences,including partial sentences such as standalone clauses or phrases, fromother portions of the email body. For example, at this stage images,greetings, and signatures can be removed or ignored. Legal noticesincluded in signatures or appended to the email body can also be removedor ignored. The remaining email body can be separated into distinctsentences.

Stage 125 can include mapping the words of each extracted sentence tonumbers, according to an index. The index can be a table saved on theuser device, for example, and can provide a unique numerical value forevery word or root word. In some examples, different words can map tothe same number. For example, the words “receive” and “receive” [sic]can map to the same number, as they are both variations intended toconvey the same word. The same process can apply to words with the sameroot but different prefixes, suffixes, or word endings. For example, thewords “provide,” “provided,” and “providing” can be mapped to the samenumber. When a word is not included in the index, it can beautomatically added to the index and assigned a new, unique numericalvalue.

The result of words being mapped to numbers, but kept in the samerelative positions, is number sentences. A number sentence version of“hello, how are you?” can be, for example, “8353, 4372 2033 3054?” Inanother example, binary numbers can be used, such as “101101, 011001101110 001001?”

These number sentences can be provided to a model at stage 130, todetermine whether each sentence is actionable or not. The model can be aresult of a machine-learning process carried out apart from the userdevice, such as at a central server or other computing device. In someexamples, the machine-learning process can be conducted by a secureemail gateway (“SEG”) positioned between the user device and an outgoingemail server. The model can utilize one or more machine-learningtechniques, such as Random Forest Classifiers (“RFC”), Recurrent NeuralNetworks with Long Short Term Memory (“LSTM”), and Convolutional NeuralNetworks (“CNN”).

The model can be initially trained with any large dataset of emails. Forexample, the model can be trained using the “Enron Corpus,” a largedatabase of over 600,000 emails generated by employees of the EnronCorporation and acquired by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissionduring its investigation. The Enron Corpus is a publicly available masscollection of real emails readily available for study. Other emaildatasets may be used, however. An enterprise with unusual and specificterminology might wish to use a dataset of internal emails. Similarly,an enterprise that uses a non-English language can use a dataset thatincludes emails of the same language. By converting words into numbersentences, model training can be performed across datasets of multiplelanguages. The dataset can also include labels for sentences, indicatingwhether a sentence is considered “actionable” or not.

An RFC model can be trained using the bag-of-words technique, which is asimplifying representation wherein text is represented as a “bag,” ormultiset, of its words, disregarding grammar and word order but keepingmultiplicity. This technique can be used on unigrams and bigrams for theinput sentences, along with 100 tree instances, in one example.

An LSTM model can be trained using “Dense Word Vectors” that representwords as vectors with dimensions corresponding to the words, and whosevalues can be a function of the count of the word co-occurring with eachneighboring word. The model can be trained using 150 dimensions, in oneexample, that are randomly initialized and updated during the training.The model can also use 150 hidden units with “tan h” activation and anon-recurrent dropout layer with a drop probability of 0.2. The modelcan use binary-cross entropy as the cost function, optimized usingAdaptive Moment Estimation.

A CNN model can be trained using Dense Word Vectors of 150 dimensionsthat are randomly initialized and updated during the training. Thetraining can include three layers and filter size of 128 with 1, 2, and3 filters in the layers. It can also include a dropout layer with a dropprobability of 0.2, fed into a vanilla neural network with 200 neuronsin its hidden layer. It can include “tan h” activation and a “sigmoid”activated single output layer neuron. The model can use binary-crossentropy as the cost function, optimized using Adaptive MomentEstimation.

Regardless of how the model is trained, it can be improved over time asmore emails are processed and feedback is received. In some examples,the email application can present an option for the user to providefeedback on the results of the model, such as by confirming whether themodel was correct or incorrect at determining whether a sentence wasactionable. This feedback can be transmitted from the user device to aserver with the processing power to run simulations and training formachine-learning models. When the model is altered or otherwise updated,the server can send a new version of the model to the user device to beincorporated in the email application. In some examples, the new modelcan be provided to the user device by way of an application update. Inother examples, a management server can provide the new model to theuser device and instruct a management agent (installed on the userdevice as part of enrolling the user device with the management server)to update the relevant email application accordingly.

The determination of whether a sentence (including standalone phrases orclauses) is actionable can occur at stage 135. The purpose of thisdetermination is to determine whether a particular sentence would causethe user to need to take some type of action. Example actions include,without limitation, responding to an email, making a phone call,confirming receipt of an email, document, or other item, providing adocument or other file, or performing any other work-related or personaltask. The outcome of the determination at stage 135 is based on themodel to which the number sentences are provided at stage 130.

If a sentence is determined at stage 135 to NOT be actionable, then themethod proceeds to stage 140 and that sentence is ignored. If, however,the sentence is determined to be actionable, then at stage 145 thatsentence is marked as actionable and returned along with a list of anyother actionable sentences in the email. The actionable sentences arealso identified as belonging to a particular email. The number sentencescan be converted back to words before being returned.

At stage 150, the actionable sentences are attached to an email databasefield. The email database field can be used to store information aboutthe email, including information identifying any actionable sentences(also referred to as “action items,” “actionable items,” or “actionabletasks”) within the email. At stage 155, that information can be utilizedby the email application. The email application can present informationregarding actionable items to the user in a multitude of ways, asdiscussed further with respect to FIGS. 2A-5.

FIG. 2A depicts an example GUI 200 that can be displayed on a userdevice by an email application as described above. The GUI 200 includesan Actionable Items view 210 that displays a list of all emails 230including unresolved actionable items. The emails 230 in the ActionableItems view 210 can include exclamation points or other identifiersindicating that the email includes one or more actionable items. Theemails 230 in the Actionable Items view 210 can also include numbersindicating that a particular email 230 contains multiple actionableitems, rather than just one.

Selecting an email 230 from the list 210 can display the email 230include the email body 220. In some examples, and as shown in FIG. 2A,the GUI can display the Actionable Items view 210 and the email body 220simultaneously. This can be useful when the user device is large, suchas an APPLE iPad, or when the user device is a phone that is beingoperated in landscape configuration. When a phone is being used inportrait configuration, selecting an email 230 can cause the GUI todisplay the email 220 but not the Actionable Items view 210.

The GUI can include an indication 240 that the selected email 230includes one or more actionable items. The indication 240 can include abutton, hyperlink, or other selectable GUI element that a user canselect to show actionable items. The actionable item can be shownwithout providing the user with an option. In some examples, the emailapplication can provide an option—either as a slider or button shown onthe GUI 200 or as a selection within the Settings of the emailapplication—to turn “on” or “off” the automatic display of actionableitems. This option can even be customized such that emails from aparticular email account, such as an enterprise account, automaticallydisplay actionable items, while emails from a different account, such asa personal account, do not automatically display actionable items.

FIG. 2B shows the example GUI 200 of FIG. 2A after a user has selectedthe option 240 to “show actionable items.” As a result of thatselection, the GUI 200 includes a highlight element 250 that highlightsthe relevant actionable item or items. In this example, one actionableitem is selected: “can you download it and see if you can stillreproduce the bug with duplicate contacts?” As mentioned earlier and asshown in FIG. 2B, the actionable item need not be a complete sentence.Instead, it can be an actionable portion of a sentence.

Although the highlight element 250 shown in FIG. 2B is depicted as a boxaround the actionable item, any type of highlight element 250 can beused. For example, the text of the actionable item can be underlined,bolded, or italicized. The text of the actionable item can also bedisplayed in a different color or with a colored “highlight” background.In another example, the entire GUI can be visually obscured, eitherpartially or totally, except for the actionable item itself. Forexample, the GUI (aside from the actionable item) can be grayed out byapplying a transparent layer of gray to it. Regardless of the manner inwhich the actionable item is highlighted, the highlight element 250 canvisually bring the user's attention to the actionable item.

The GUI 200 can optionally display a feedback element 260 that promptsthe user to provide feedback regarding the actionable item(s) shown inthe email body 220. The feedback element can ask the user whether theactionable item was helpful or otherwise accurately determined to beactionable, and can provide the user with one or more selectableelements to be used in communicating the feedback. In the example ofFIG. 2B, the feedback element 260 asks the user “Was this actionableitem helpful?” and provides two selectable elements in the form ofbuttons corresponding to “yes” and “no,” respectively. The feedbackelement 260 can be configured such that upon the user selecting “no,”the feedback element 260 presents an additional text field that requeststhe user to explain why the actionable item was not helpful or accurate.The data obtained through the feedback element 260 can be stored on theuser device and transmitted to a server. The server can utilize thefeedback to refine the machine-learning model and ultimately provide amore accurate model to the user device in the future.

FIG. 3 provides an illustration of an example GUI 300 that can bedisplayed on a user device by an email application installed on thedevice. In the example of FIG. 3, an email page 310 is displayed as aresult of the user selecting an email. The email can be selected fromthe inbox or from an Actionable Items view 210 such as the one shown inFIGS. 2A and 2B. The email page 310 includes a hero card 320 and anemail card 330. The hero card 320 is displayed above the email card 330in this example, but the cards 320, 330 can be presented in any order orside by side, depending on the orientation of the display.

The email card 330 displays information regarding the email, includingthe sender, the date of sending, the recipient, and the email body 340.The hero card 320 can display an actionable item 322 extracted from theemail using a method as described in conjunction with FIG. 1. If theemail contains multiple actionable items 322, all of the actionableitems 322 can be displayed on the hero card 320 in one example. Inanother example, arrow buttons 326 can be presented when multipleactionable items 322 are present, allowing a user to scroll between themultiple actionable items 322. In other examples, the arrow buttons 326function to scroll between actionable items 322 corresponding todifferent emails. In those examples, the arrow buttons 326 would alsocause a different email card 330 to be displayed based on the actionableitem 322 being shown at the time.

The hero card 320 can include a button 324 that allows the user to “markas complete” a relevant actionable item 322. Selecting that button 324will remove the hero card 320 and remove the email from views showingemails with actionable items 322, such as the Action Item view 210 ofFIGS. 2A and 2B. Where multiple actionable items 322 are displayed onone hero card 320, each actionable item 322 can be followed by a “markas complete” button 324 such that the user can mark particularactionable items 322 complete but leave others that have not yet beencompleted. In another example, multiple actionable items 322 can bedisplayed in one hero card 320 in form of a checklist. The user canselect or deselect each individual actionable item 322 on the checklistto indicate whether the item 322 has been completed.

The hero card 320 can also include a progress icon 328 providinginformation to the user regarding their overall handling of actionableitems 322. The progress icon 328 can display a statistical or graphical(or both) indication of the user's progress through actionable items 322that have been received within a particular period of time. For example,the progress icon 328 can reflect the percentage of actionable items 322resolved in the past seven days relative to the number of actionableitems 322 received in that same seven-day period. In the example of FIG.3, the progress icon 328 provides both a numerical representation of thepercentage of complete actionable items 322 (in this example, 75%), aswell as a graphical representation of that percentage. The progress icon328 is discussed more with respect to FIG. 5, below.

Although the previous examples relate to displaying actionable itemswithin, or in association with, emails that are being displayed, in someexamples the actionable items can be displayed in other contexts aswell. FIG. 4 provides such an example in the context of a meetinginvitation. The GUI 400 depicted in FIG. 4 includes a meeting invitepage 410 that includes a meeting card 420 and a meeting invitation 430.The meeting invitation 430 includes a meeting-invitation body 432 inwhich the sender of the meeting invitation 430 can include additionaltext for the intended recipients to review. In this example, themeeting-invitation body 432 includes an agenda for the meeting, but itcan include any other information such as a dial-in number and passcode.The meeting card 420 can be a type of hero card.

The meeting card 420 displayed within the meeting invite page 410provides a summary of the meeting invitation 430, including the senderof the invitation 430 and the time and place of the meeting, but it canalso include additional functionality. For example, the meeting card 420can include buttons 421, 422, 423 for responding to the meetinginvitation 430. The “accept” button 421 accepts the meeting invitation430 and can add the meeting to the user's calendar and optionally send aresponse to the sender of the meeting invitation 430 indicating that theuser will attend the meeting. The “maybe” button 422 can also add themeeting to the user's calendar and optionally send a response to thesender of the meeting invitation 430 indicating that the user mightattend the meeting. The “decline” button 423 can remove the meeting fromthe user's calendar and optionally send a response to the sender of themeeting invitation 430 indicating that the user will not attend themeeting.

The meeting card 420 can include meeting details 424 that providevarious details about the meeting. For example, the meeting details 424can include the time of the meeting, organizer of the meeting,attendees, and other relevant information. The meeting card 420 can alsoinclude one or more actionable items 425 imbedded in the meeting card420. The actionable items 425 displayed in the meeting card 420 can beselected in a number of ways. In one example, the email applicationsearches the meeting-invitation body 432 itself to determine whether anyactionable items 425 are present. For example, the meeting-invitationbody 432 can include an instruction that “everyone please bring yourlaptops with you to this meeting.” The email application can parse themeeting invitation 430 in the same manner as it would an email:extracting sentences, converting them to number sentences, providing thenumber sentences to the model, and determining whether the numbersentences represent an actionable item. If so, the email application canutilize that actionable item 425 by inserting it into a meeting card420.

Although an actionable item 425 can be found in the body 432 of ameeting invitation, actionable items 425 can also be obtained in othermanners. For example, the email application can search for actionableitems relating to the sender of the meeting invitation 430. Taking theexample of FIG. 4, the sender, Adam Rykowski, may have sent an email tothe user that included an actionable item 425, such as the one shown:“If you could take a look at that report that would be great. We need tospeak to Neil about the latest release.” The application can include anyunresolved actionable items 425 from the sender of the meetinginvitation 430, providing a reminder to the user of potential issues ortalking points that may arise. In an example, the actionable items 425are only displayed to the user that originally received the actionableitems 425—rather than displaying them widely to all participants of themeeting. On the other hand, if an actionable item 425 was sent tomultiple users and those same users are included in the meetinginvitation 430, then each of those users can receive the actionable item425 on a meeting card 420 on their respective GUIs 400.

In the examples described above, actionable items are displayed withinan email, in a hero card associated with an email, or in a meetinginvitation. However, actionable items are not limited to being displayedin these locations. Actionable items can be incorporated into otherportions of an email application or even an overall operating system. Asan example, actionable items can be obtained from a calendar reminderand inserted into an Actionable Item view 210 such as the one shown inFIGS. 2A, 2B, and 5. Furthermore, actionable items can be obtained fromvoice messages that are transcribed by an operating system on the userdevice. If the user device includes a contact for that voice message, anactionable item can be created and attributed to that contact.

Actionable items can also be displayed in a “task list” format, with anentry for each actionable item. The task list can be displayedseparately from the Actionable Items list 210 or any of the other viewsdiscussed above. The task list can be sorted based on the sender, thedate received, or based on an order manually arranged by the user. Thetask list can also include checkboxes or any other applicable GUIelement allowing the user to indicate when a particular actionable itemhas been completed or is otherwise ready to be removed from the tasklist. The task list can be displayed in a hero card, in an example.

FIG. 5 shows another GUI 500 that can be displayed on a user device. TheGUI 500 includes an Actionable Items view 210, as shown in FIGS. 2A and2B, along with a statistics card 510. The statistics card 510 can be atype of hero card, in an example. The statistics card 510 provides avariety of statistics and analytics relating to actionable itemsrelating to the user. For example, the statistics card 510 can display aprogress icon 520 that displays a measure of progress the user has madein completing actionable items. The progress icon 520 can include anumerical measure, such as a percentage, or a visual measure, such as acircular bar that is filled according to a percentage, or both. Theprogress icon 520 of FIG. 5 reads “75%” and also includes a circular barof which 75% is filled-in. The percentage displayed by the progress icon520 can be based on actionable items completed in a period of timeversus the overall number of actionable items received in that sameperiod of time. In another example, the percentage displayed by theprogress icon 520 can be based on actionable emails completed in aperiod of time versus the overall number of actionable emails completedin a that same period of time. The time period can be selectedautomatically or can be manually selected by the user via a settingspage.

The progress icon 520 can be accompanied by a progress icon explanation525. In the example of FIG. 5, the progress icon explanation 525explains that “you have completed 75% of the actionable emails thisweek.” From this explanation 525, the user can understand that therelevant time period is one week, and that the progress icon 520 iscalculating actionable emails rather than actionable items (as someactionable emails can include multiple actionable items).

The statistics card 510 of FIG. 5 also includes a burndown chart 530showing graphical representations of a suggested pace for resolvingactionable items (or actionable emails) alongside the user's actual pacein resolving those actionable items or emails. The burndown chart 530can be used for “sprint” events, where a user designates a time periodby which to complete a group of actionable items or emails. In someexamples, the time period can be designated automatically, such as bydefaulting to a seven-day period. The burndown chart 530 can beaccompanied by a chart explanation 535 that provides further insight tothe user. In the example of FIG. 5, the chart explanation 535 states“looks like you are on track to completing all your actionable emailsthis week!” The chart explanation 535 can warn the user when they arefalling behind, providing motivation for the user to increase the paceat which they are resolving actionable items. The charts and analyticsdisplayed in the statistics card 510 are merely exemplary; otherdisplays of statistics or analytics can be included in the statisticscard 510 as appropriate. In some examples, the user can customize thetypes of statistics or analytics displayed.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary flowchart of an example method for identifyingactionable tasks in a received email. Stage 610 of the method caninclude extracting a portion of a received email. This can include, forexample, extracting an email body of the email, which can includeidentifying the body of the email, extracting all elements within thebody, and copying those elements over to another location. The stage canalso include extracting individual sentences, clauses, phrases, or termsfrom the extracted email body. This can include removing or ignoringimages, greeting, signatures, and legal notices.

Stage 620 can include assigning a number to each word of the extractedportion of the email. The assignment can be done according to an indexstored on the user device. The index can be a table saved on the userdevice, for example, and can provide a unique numerical value for everyword or root word. When a word is not included in the index, it can beautomatically added to the index and assigned a new, unique numericalvalue. When the words of a sentence, clause, phrase, or term have beenreplaced by the corresponding numbers from the index, the resulting“number sentences” can be used for further analysis.

For example, stage 630 of the method can include determining, based onthe assigned numbers, whether the extracted portion of the emailincludes at least one actionable portion. This determination can be madeby a model stored on the user device. The model can be the result of amachine-learning process carried out by the user device or anothercomputing device with greater computing power. The model can be trainedwith an example corpus of emails in which the actionable items withinthose emails are flagged. Various machine-learning techniques can beused, such as RFC, LSTM, and CNN, as discussed above with respect toFIG. 1. The model can be improved over time as more emails are processedand more feedback is received from users. As the model is improved, newversions can be sent to the user device to be implemented movingforward.

At stage 640, in response to determining that the extracted portion ofthe email includes at least one actionable portion, the at least oneactionable portion can be presented on a GUI of the user's device.Presenting the actionable portion can take a variety of forms, some ofwhich are depicted in FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3, 4, and 5. For example, the GUIcan display an Actionable Items view that lists the emails containingactionable items. The GUI can display a task list showing actionableitems (rather than entire emails). The GUI can also highlight theactionable items within the email itself, as shown in FIG. 2B. It canalso display a hero card that presents the actionable item inconjunction with the email, as shown in FIG. 3. The GUI can also displaythe actionable item as part of a meeting card, as sown in FIG. 4.

Stage 650 can include presenting a graphical representation ofactionable portions of emails completed by the user within a period oftime relative to actionable portions of emails presented to the userwithin the period of time. This can include, for example, displaying astatistics card as shown in FIG. 5. The statistics card can include aprogress icon that displays a measure of progress the user has made incompleting actionable items. It can also include a graphical display,such as a burndown chart, showing graphical representations of asuggested pace for resolving actionable items or emails alongside theuser's actual pace in resolving those actionable items or emails. Thestatistics card can also include explanations that provide the user withcontext and additional details regarding the statistics.

Other examples of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled inthe art from consideration of the specification and practice of theexamples disclosed herein. Though some of the described methods havebeen presented as a series of steps, it should be appreciated that oneor more steps can occur simultaneously, in an overlapping fashion, or ina different order. The order of steps presented is only illustrative ofthe possibilities and those steps can be executed or performed in anysuitable fashion. Moreover, the various features of the examplesdescribed here are not mutually exclusive. Rather any feature of anyexample described here can be incorporated into any other suitableexample. It is intended that the specification and examples beconsidered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of thedisclosure being indicated by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for presenting actionable tasks from areceived email, comprising: extracting a portion of the email;determining whether the extracted portion of the email includes at leastone actionable portion; in response to determining that the extractedportion of the email includes at least one actionable portion,presenting the at least one actionable portion on a graphical userinterface (GUI).
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whetherthe extracted portion of the email includes at least one actionableportion comprises assigning a number to each word of the extractedportion of the email, wherein determining is based on the assignednumbers.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the at least oneactionable portion of the email in a GUI further comprises highlightingthe at least one actionable portion.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinpresenting the at least one actionable portion of the email in a GUIfurther comprises displaying the at least one actionable portion in ahero card.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the hero card includes aselectable GUI element that, when selected, marks the at least oneactionable portion as completed.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereinpresenting the at least one actionable portion of the email in a GUIfurther comprises presenting the at least one actionable portion inassociation with a meeting invitation.
 7. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising presenting a graphical representation of actionable portionsof emails completed by the user within a period of time relative toactionable portions of emails presented to the user within the period oftime.
 8. A system for identifying actionable tasks in a received email,comprising: a user device comprising a processor, a display, and anemail application, wherein the processor of the user device performsstages comprising: extracting a portion of the email; determiningwhether the extracted portion of the email includes at least oneactionable portion; and in response to determining that the extractedportion of the email includes at least one actionable portion,presenting the at least one actionable portion on a graphical userinterface (GUI) on the display.
 9. The system of claim 8, whereindetermining whether the extracted portion of the email includes at leastone actionable portion comprises assigning a number to each word of theextracted portion of the email, wherein determining is based on theassigned numbers.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein presenting the atleast one actionable portion of the email in a GUI further compriseshighlighting the at least one actionable portion.
 11. The system ofclaim 8, wherein presenting the at least one actionable portion of theemail in a GUI further comprises displaying the at least one actionableportion in a hero card.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the herocard includes a selectable GUI element that, when selected, marks the atleast one actionable portion as completed.
 13. The system of claim 8,wherein presenting the at least one actionable portion of the email in aGUI further comprises presenting the at least one actionable portion inassociation with a meeting invitation.
 14. The system of claim 8, thestages further comprising presenting a graphical representation ofactionable portions of emails completed by the user within a period oftime relative to actionable portions of emails presented to the userwithin the period of time.
 15. A non-transitory, computer-readablemedium including instructions that, when executed by a processor of acomputing device, cause the processor to perform stages for identifyingactionable tasks in a received email, the stages comprising: extractinga portion of the email; determining whether the extracted portion of theemail includes at least one actionable portion; and in response todetermining that the extracted portion of the email includes at leastone actionable portion, presenting the at least one actionable portionon a graphical user interface (GUI).
 16. The non-transitory,computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein presenting the at leastone actionable portion of the email in a GUI further compriseshighlighting the at least one actionable portion.
 17. Thenon-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein presentingthe at least one actionable portion of the email in a GUI furthercomprises displaying the at least one actionable portion in a hero card.18. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 17, whereinthe hero card includes a selectable GUI element that, when selected,marks the at least one actionable portion as completed.
 19. Thenon-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein presentingthe at least one actionable portion of the email in a GUI furthercomprises presenting the at least one actionable portion in associationwith a meeting invitation.
 20. The non-transitory, computer-readablemedium of claim 15, the stages further comprising presenting a graphicalrepresentation of actionable portions of emails completed by the userwithin a period of time relative to actionable portions of emailspresented to the user within the period of time.